1895 Columbia N Phonograph With Mobley Gutta Percha Reproducer & Chicago Decal For Sale

I think it\'s safe to say that if -- after checking out all my listings this week -- you can\'t find anything that interests you, you either aren\'t really looking, or there\'s nothing in the world that you find interesting anymore. I\'ve put together what\'s probably the largest, best and cleanest assortment of mechanical, technological and musical antiques of the year, and regardless of how discriminating your tastes might be, I think you\'ll find something you like.
Here\'s an early Columbia Type N Graphophone, known also as the Bijou. It was among the first phonographs in the world to be marketed for entertainment use in the home rather than business use in the office; accordingly, its historical significance cannot be overstated. Like the Apple 1 computer that followed it almost a century later, the Type N started a trend that \"had legs,\" as they say in the entertainment industry. One of only two Columbia cylinder Graphophones that featured a fold-down endgate (the other was the huge GG), the Type N was in production for less than two years. When new in 1895, it sold for the princely sum of $40.
This is a nice example of a hard to find phonograph with normal signs of wear but no evidence of abuse or neglect. It features a low serial number, a nearly perfect original paper Bell & Tainter license affixed to the interior of the cabinet lid, a clean original cabinet finish, a nice original Graphophone decal with a desirable Chicago Talking Machine Co. overlay in the lower right corner, and an unusual gutta percha reproducer that\'s been modified with a pink metal Mobley diaphragm.
The motor and governor run smoothly, and the motor has enough torque to easily make it through a cylinder without the need for re-winding. As you can see in the photographs, the fiber gear has been shifted a couple of millimeters with respect to the governor so that the gear\'s brass teeth, rather than its worn fiber teeth, engage with the governor. This does not result in any additional noise; to the contrary, the machine runs with much less noise than it did when the gear\'s worn out fiber teeth were engaged.
The Columbia gutta percha floating reproducer is original and in reasonably good condition, though it has a chip in the rim of the shell. It also has a metal Mobley diaphragm, which I\'ll admit I\'ve never seen before on a gutta percha reproducer. Because the stylus bar sits so close to the diaphragm, the reproducer\'s sapphire will only make contact with the record\'s surface if the reproducer is mounted on the very end of the carriage neck, which I\'m sure was not the original intent of the modification. This problem could be resolved with the addition of a mounting cup to the surface of the diaphragm, but I\'ve left the reproducer as I\'ve found it.
I\'ve been selling and shipping antiquephonographs, antique radios and antique scientific apparatus for more than 25 years. When you purchase an antique phonograph from me, you\'ll receive a phonograph that arrives safely because it\'s been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn\'t know a phonograph from a farm tool). Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your \"bargain\" arrives in pieces or badly damaged, you\'ll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for.That\'s about it. Buyer prepays and includes shipping. Paypal okay. buyers with no prior response history and buyers with private response should contact me before placing a offer.